Sheet-metal display can or box.



No. 764,297. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. B. H. LABKIN. SHEET METAL DISPLAY CAN OR BOX.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 14, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

NITED STATES Patented July 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BERNARD H. LARKIN, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN (JAN COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEl/V JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWV JERSEY.

SHEET-METAL DISPLAY CAN OR BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,297, dated July 5, 1904.

Application filed January 14:, 1904. Serial No. 188,973. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD H. LARKIN, a

citizen of the United States, residingin Austin,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Metal Display Cans or Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in display cans or boxes of sheet metal designed to contain crackers, bakery goods, and other like articles.

The object of my invention is to provide a sheet-metal display can or box suitable for containing crackers, bakery articles, and other I5 goods and having at its front two openings, one closed by a removable sign-plate and the other by a removable glass plate to display to view the contents of the can or box, in which the removable plates will be securely held in place, so that there will be no danger of either falling out or becoming displaced in shipment or handling of the can or box, in which the glass or display plate can only be removed by first removing the sign-plate, and

which will at the same time be of a neat, strong,

simple, ellicient, and durable construction, capable of being cheaply manufactured.

. My invention consists in the means I employ to practically accomplish this object or reside-that is to say, it consists in a sheetmetal display can or box having a body, bottom, and hinged cover and in which the sheetmetal front of the body is provided with two openings and with integral guides surrounding the upper opening for holding the upper removable plate in place and with an integral bearing to support a pivotal or hinged catch, which hinged catch has a lower arm or lip that engages the upper edge of the lower re- 4 movable plate to hold it in place, and also with an upper arm that engages the upper removable plate to hold the hinged catch in operative position, so that the lower removable plate cannot be removed without first removing the upper removable plate.

My invention further consists in the novel construction of parts and devices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sheet-metal display box or can embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged central vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4; is a horizontal section on line L 4. of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, A A A represent the three vertical sides, which, in connection with the front B, forms the body of the can or box.

0 is its bottom, and I) the hinged cover.

Each of the three sheet-metal side plates A, which are preferably of tinplate, and the sheet-metal front B, which is preferably of brass, are secured at their lower edges to the bottom G by external folded scams or lockseams a, formed by inter-folded flanges cc and b c at the meeting edges of the sides A and front B with the bottom C. These external interfolded or look seams not only serve to unite the body of the can or box to its bottom, but also to materially strengthen the can or box as a whole, which is ordinarily of considerable size--one customary size, for example, being twelve inches high by about ten inches square in horizontal section. At the upright corners of the body the sheet-metal side plates A A and front B areunited together by internal folded scams or lock-seams a, formed by interfolded flanges a a? and u I) on the upright meeting edges of the side plates A and front plate B, thus not only uniting the side plates and front of the body of the can or box, butalso materially stiffening and strengthening the can or box. To strengthen and stiffen the upper end of the body of the can or box and form a flat seat for the hinged cover to fit and shut down upon, the vertical sides A of the body are provided with hori- Zontal or right-angle flanges a, preferably about one-half inch in width, and with angleflanges (6, preferably about three-fourths of an inch in width, the lower edges of which meet the vertical sides A of the can or box, thus forming hollow triangular stiffening bars or braces A at the upper end of the body of the can or box, at three sides thereof, and at its remaining or front side a similar hollow strengthening and stifl'ening bar or brace A composed of sheet metal, and having a corresponding right-angle or horizontal flange a and angle-flange a1", is provided. At the corners of the body the meeting horizontal flanges at and meeting angle-flanges (4* of the hollow strengthening bars or braces A A overlap each other and are securely soldered together,

thus forming a continuous hollow strength' ening bar or brace all around the upper end of the body, thus giving the body a very stiff, strong, and rigid construction.

The front B of the body, which is preferably of sheet-brass to give a neater and more ornamental appearance to the display can or box, is provided with two openings B and B one above the other, each surrounded by an intu rned angle-flange 6 The lower or display opening B is closed by a removable glass or transparent plate E, and the upper or sign opening B is closed by a removable sign-plate F. The upper or sign plate F is inserted through a slot or passage-way f between the front hollow brace or bar A and the sheetmetal front B of the box-body. This plate F is held in position by fixed metal guides 5 6 one for each end of the plate F, formed integrally on the sheet-metal front B surrounding the opening B therein, and by a lower or bottom guide 5*, likewise formed integrally on the sheet-metal front B of the box. The guides b consist of suitable folds U in the integral flanges b" of the front B at the two ends of the upper opening B therein, and thelower guide blikewise consists in asuitable fold 71 formed in the integral lip or flange b on the boxfront B at the lower margin of the upper opening B therein. The flange b on the boxfront B at the lower margin of the upper opening B therein has an upward extension 6, furnished with a roll or socket 71" to form a bearing for the pivot or hinge pin g of the hinged catch G, which serves to hold the lower glass or display plate E in place. This hinged catch G is preferably made of sheet metal and is provided with a lip or lower edge 9, which engages the upper edge of the glass plate E to hold the same in place. It is also provided with an upper integral arm which is adapted to engage and press against the sign-plate F. The sign-plate thus holds the hinged catch in its operative position and prevents the hinged catch from turning or swinging so as to close the lower or glass plate without first removing the upper or sign plate. The hinged catch G has curved lips or coils g to secure the same to the pivot pin or wire 9. The hinged catch G is also provided with an offset or shoulder g for the upper edge of the lower or glass plate E to abut against. The glass or display plate E rests at its lower edge on the bottom of the box and is held in position at its lower edge by a fixed sheet-metal guide E, the edge a of which is interfolded with the flanges b 0 of the front and bottom, thus securing this guide firmly in place without the necessity of soldering. This fixed guide E has an upturned lip or flange E to engage the lower edge of the glass plate E.

In operation the lower or glass plate E is first put in place, the hinged catch G is then turned into operative position to. hold the,

glass plate in place, and then the sign-plate F is slipped into place through the slot or passage-way f, thus causing it to engage and press against the upper arm of the hinged catch G, and thereby holding it in operative position. To remove the platesE and F, the sign-plate F must be first removed, and then the hinged catch G can be turned and the lower or glass plate removed. As in my invention the fixed guides for one of said removable plates is formed integrally in one piece with the sheet-metal front of the box by suitable folds at the edges of the front plate surrounding the opening therein and as the movable catch or guide for the other removable plate is mounted on an integralflange or fold of the sheet-metal front itself, the construction of the display-box is greatly simplified and its cost of manufacture materially reduced, while at the same time the box itself is materially improved.

I claim 1. A display can or box having a front furnished with two openings, removable plates for closing said openings, said from having integral guides for one of said plates at the edges of one of said openings, and a movable catch for one of said plates held in operative position by its engagement with the other of said plates, substantially as specified.

2. A display can or box having a front furnished with two openings, removable plates for closing said openings, said front having integral guides for one of said plates at the edges of one of said openings, and a movable catch for one of said plates held in operative position by its engagement with the other of said plates, said movable catch being mounted on an integral flange formed on saidfront, substantially as specified.

3. A display can or box having a sheetmetal front furnished with two openings therein and with integral guides for one of said plates, and a hinged catch having a lip or arm engaging one of said plates to hold it in place and provided with another arm engaging the other plate to cause said catch to be held in operative position, substantially as specified.

4:. A display can or box having a sheetmetal front furnished with two openings therein and with integral guides for one of said plates, and a hinged catch having a lip or arm IIO engaging one of said plates to hold it in place and provided with another arm engaging the other plate to cause said catch to be held in operative position, said sheet-metal front be for closing said openings, said front having fixed integral guides formed by integral Folds 20 therein for one of said plates and a movable catch for the other lied.

7. A display can or box having a front furnished with two openings, removable plates for closing said openings, said :lront having fixed guides for one of said plates, and a movable catch for the other of said plates, said front having an integral flange upon which said movable catch is mounted, substantially 3 as specified.

BERNARD H. .LARKIN.

Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY,

P. AnRAMs.

plate, substantially as speci- 

